Exercising your right to defer taxes with a 1031 exchange is taking advantage of an interest free loan from the U. S. government. A conventional lender generally requires a 20% down payment on a new commercial property and as a rule of thumb the tax consequence of a taxable sale is at least 20%. You can elect to pay about 20% of a transaction to the Federal and State governments as a capital gain tax, or you can take that same 20% and acquire a new investment property.
Start rebuilding your equity by disposing of properties that have topped out on appreciation and acquire new ones. Consider exchanging properties in economically depressed areas for others in a better location or neighborhood.

By exchanging non-income producing real estate investments, such as raw land, for property that is income producing, such as a duplex or a rental home, you start realizing a cash flow and get income tax deductions such as depreciation, which you did not have with your raw land. By doing a tax-deferred exchange, you can conserve your equity.